A Dozen Roses
by PositivlyAsh
Summary: Takes place a little after season 8, but Sam wasn't hurt as bad and healed fine on his own without Ezekiel. A girl is on her way to a friend's house to watch a Supernatural marathon when she stumbles and finds herself in Lebanon, Kansas and find Sam in a parking lot. But there's no way it's actually Sam... after all, Supernatural is just a show, right?
1. Chapter 1

Holly North was a bright kid. She was shy and tended to keep away from the spotlight, but she was very creative and smart. She never told anybody besides her best friend this to keep from sounding cocky, but she was really proud of herself for practically memorizing the map of the entire neighborhood. Isabelle only encouraged this, glad to see Holly in a good mood.

Holly met Isabelle Parker in junior high. Isabelle was quite outgoing and friendly. She was always making sure that Holly wasn't hiding among the shadows too often, and when Holly was being a wallflower, she wasn't alone.

Holly was secretly a big fangirl of a lot of things, and she managed to get Isabelle into one of her favorite shows: "Supernatural". Holly was heading over to Isabelle's house; they had planned a Supernatural-marathon sleepover for the night.

She stared at the ground as she strolled at a steady pace, mentally mapping her tracks on her way to Isabelle's house. She paused for a second when she saw something on the ground. She bent down to pick up an antique-looking pocket watch. Holly continued walking, a puzzled look slowly taking over her face and her eyes never leaving the watch. It was a very pretty watch, the front of it displayed a picture of white wings on a black background, all under a polished surface. Around the edges was wire bent into a swirling and intricate pattern.

Holly was nearly halfway to Isabelle's house, now no longer paying any attention to where she was going. All of a sudden there was a whooshing sound from her right, accompanied by the honking of a horn. She froze in the middle of the road, then yanked back with a startling force by the handle of her backpack. The driver of the car that nearly hit her shouted a few obscene words in her direction. She ignored the foul language and turned to see who saved her from her from the near tragedy. She found a man not much older than herself standing behind her, scratching his neck and looking off to the side.

"You should watch where you're going, kid," he told her, as he flicked his gaze to her eyes.

There were a few moments of silence before Holly shyly stuttered a "Thank you."

She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but noticed that the man had glanced at the pocket watch in her hand. She tightened her grip around it and bid the man a quick, but polite farewell and turned to take a different path to Isabelle's. She liked the scenic route better, anyway. She slid the watch in her pocket and sped her pace as she walked away from the man.

Holly made a few turns, making a roundabout trail in her mind to follow. The trees started to get a little thicker, making a tunnel as they canopied over her head. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she looked up at the leaves. It was autumn already, but they haven't changed color yet.

The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the watch again. She thought it was very pretty. The wings on the front reminded her of one of her favorite characters on Supernatural.

Holly opened up the device. The inside was also beautiful, but she noticed that the hands weren't moving at all. She held it up to her ear and listened carefully. Nope. Definitely no ticking coming from this watch. This detail, however, didn't bother her at all. She enjoyed puzzles and other things of the sort, and became determined to fix it.

Holly put the watch back into her pocket when she heard her phone ringing. She set her backpack against the nearest tree and pulled it out to answer her friend, who was beginning to get worried at the fact that Holly was late. She told Isabelle not to fret. She explained why she chose to take the scenic route to her house, and Isabelle responded with a simple "Alright, just hurry up."

Holly was about to hang up the phone when the connection was cut. She thought that was odd, but put her phone back in her pocket anyway. If Isabelle wanted to keep talking, she could just call back.

Picking up her backpack, Holly continued her stroll under the trees, when all of a sudden there was a huge crash from behind her. She turned to see what it was, and found out that one of the trees had fallen and blocked the path she was walking on. She stared in shock, but then the next tree began to fall, as if being pushed over by a massive outside force.

Each tree began falling one by one, like dominos, and they were slowly headed in Holly's direction. She turned and began to run as fast as she could to make it out of the tunnel of trees. The end of it wasn't that far away.

The teen seized up when she saw something that looked like a barrier of thin glass, but then continued to charge through anyway. When she didn't feel anything solid, she decided that it must have been an effect of the adrenaline rushing through her body.

The teen continued to sprint with all her might until she leapt out from under the last tree as it came crashing down. To Holly's surprise, she landed unceremoniously on a sidewalk. She glared confusedly at the hard pavement. When did they put a sidewalk here? This was supposed to be a dirt trail.

She got up to get a better look at her surroundings. She found it even more surprising that she wasn't near any trees whatsoever. She was actually in the middle of a town; a town that Holly didn't recognize. Something was definitely not right, Holly knew her neighborhood well. She knew all of the back roads, twists, and turns. This was definitely not supposed to be here.

Holly got up off the ground and dusted herself off. She decided that the best thing to do would be to figure out her location, so she started heading down the sidewalk in search for directions.

It took her no longer than a minute or two to locate a grocery store. She turned and began heading in the direction of the store, but not before stopping first to let a car pass. She had learned her lesson in mindfulness today.

Holly continued walking after the car passed her, but she recognized the car from somewhere. She began following it. Upon closer inspection, she remembered where she had seen the car before. It was a black 1967 Chevy Impala, and even had the same licence plate number as that of the car that belonged to the main characters of Supernatural.

Holly decided to ask the owner of this vehicle for directions instead of one of the store owners. With a smile on her face, she walked up behind the car as it was being put in park. Holly began speaking as soon as the driver's door was open.

"Hi, sorry, I don't mean to bother you or anything, but I was wondering if you could tell me where I am…" Holly trailed off when she saw who climbed out of the car. Holly's stomach bubbled in excitement as she recognized one of her favorite actors: Jared Padalecki. Holly stood frozen, her mouth gaping open for a moment before finding her words again. She squealed and asked Jared for two autographs, one for herself and one for her friend, but he just looked at her in confusion.

A few more seconds passed before he asked why she would want his autograph, and Holly told him "My friend and I are a big fan of the show!"

His face simply shows more confusion.

Holly continues describing Supernatural, but it wasn't until she mentioned "you, Jensen, and Misha…" that she stops talking, because his expression changes from confusion to shock.

He looks at Holly. "Where did you hear those names?"

Now it was Holly's turn to display confusion upon her face. "... Jared Padalecki, right? You're famous…"

"Sorry, miss. My name is Sam Winchester."

Holly blinks. She looks to the left, and then to the right. Then she casts her gaze back on the man claiming to be Sam Winchester. "You know, there aren't any cameras here. You don't have to be Sam in front of me." But the man continued to insist that he wasn't an actor.

Giving up on the topic, Holly decided to figure out where she was. She was quite shocked with the answer.

"You're in Lebanon, Kansas." Sam told her. Holly's jaw dropped. It took a second for Holly to start speaking again. She looked worried. Sam closed and locked the door to the Impala while subtly listening to the girl's mutterings. She was talking about something in California.

"Is that where you're from? California, I mean?" Sam asked her after waiting a moment. Holly nodded slowly, staring at the pavement. "Then what are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't know how I got here!" Holly exclaimed. She continued to explain the situation to Sam, who listened intently. She told him how she was going to her friend's house, how she almost got hit by a car and took another trail, how all the trees collapsed over the path and how the town came out of nowhere. She told him she recognized the Impala from the show "Supernatural" and followed it into the parking lot where they were now.

"And that's when I met you." She stopped talking and looked up at Sam, who was looking across the parking lot, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

A few moments passed and then Sam spoke quietly, as if only to himself, but Holly still heard him. "That's where those names are from. I knew it."

"Knew what? What names?" Holly began asking him.

"Ah… nothing. Don't worry about it." Sam shifted his gaze to Holly's and stared thoughtfully at her until she began to feel uncomfortable in the silence.

He finally spoke up. "So you're lost, right?"

Holly nodded, her eyes wide.

"And you recognize me?" Sam inquired, gesturing to himself.

Holly's eyebrows shot up. "Recognize you? I've seen so many online convention panels and interviews of you, Jensen, and Misha that I feel as if I know you!" She waited a beat. "I just realized how creepy that sounds! I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anyth-"

Sam laughed and interrupted her. "Don't worry about that," he assured. "All I need to know is if you would be willing to tag along with me for a bit? I need to get some stuff from the store for the bunker, and I really think my brother should hear your story."

Holly's eyes went even wider, unbelievably so. She gasped and replied with "Yes! I'd love to meet your brother!" And then her smile faltered. "But Isabelle… I should call her to tell her where I am. Or somebody I know, at least. They're going to be worried if I'm missing for too long.."

Sam nodded as Holly pulled out her phone and started pressing some buttons. She stopped after a few seconds of this and furrowed her brow. She held the device high in the air, and then pulled it back down again, squinting at the screen. Finally she looked up. Sam raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't have a signal!" she announced dramatically.

"That's odd…" Sam said, trying not to laugh as Holly continued to pout, sticking out her bottom lip. He pulled out his own cell and handed it to her. "Wanna use mine?" he asked.

Holly took it gratefully. "Yes, thankyou."

Sam, being a gentleman, took Holly's backpack and put it in the back seat of the car. They wandered into the store and up and down the isles, Sam grabbing things from the shelves and Holly trying to contact somebody she knew on Sam's cell phone.

After trying to call three different people but reaching nothing but a robotic voice telling her that the numbers she dialed have never been in use, she threw her hands in the air. "I give up," she exclaimed, feeling defeated. She gave Sam his phone back and slumped her shoulders with a heavy sigh.

They started scanning things at the self checkout counter. "Don't worry," Sam told her. "we're going to figure out this mess and get you home safe and sound. I promise."

Holly looked up at Sam. He glanced back at her and gave her a small smile, while finishing bagging the rest of the groceries.

They carried the bags back to the Impala and set them down in the backseat, next to Holly's backpack. Holly climbed into the shotgun seat, and watched Sam through the windshield as he made his way around the front of the car. He opened the driver's door right as his phone began to ring.

Sam checked the caller ID. It was his brother. Sam leaned over and looked through the car doorway at Holly. "I'll only be a minute. I need to take this call. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

Holly nodded and smiled at him.

Sam walked behind the Impala and flipped his phone open. He leaned against the trunk and put the phone up to his ear.

"Don't worry, Dean. I got pie. I just finished shopping, and I'm about to head back."

"Good, because I just got word from Cas. I need you back here ASAP."

"Are you serious, man? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He said he's fine for now, but he kept telling me that he didn't want to put us in danger by being around us, since every angel is out to get him, and I couldn't convince him otherwise, so I called Charlie over to trace the call. She's working on it as we speak."

"Why can't Cas just fly down here instead of use a phone?"

"I asked him that. He said Metatron took his grace… I'm worried, Sam. Cas is human now. He has a price on his head and he won't let us help him."

"We'll find him, Dean. I'll be there in fifteen. I've got news for you, too. You're going to want to hear this."

Sam hung up his phone and got into the car. He started driving back to the bunker.

Holly looked out the passenger's window and sighed silently, wondering if this was all a dream. It certainly didn't feel like a dream; she was usually able to tell the difference. But if it wasn't a dream, she didn't know what to think.

Without looking down, she pulled out the pocket watch slowly and brushed her thumb over the top of it. Sam and Holly both stared silently through the windshield for the entirety of the trip back to the bunker.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam leads Holly into the bunker and she's ecstatic to find that all the Supernatural stuff is real. The feeling didn't last long though, because Dean came to greet them as soon as he heard the door open, and he wasn't in a good mood.

"Sam!" Dean shouted at him, and then his eyes landed on Holly. "Sammy… Why did you bring a girl back here?" He turned to face Holly. "No offense, miss…"

"None taken." Holly smiled back, and Dean turned to face Sam again.

"How did you pick up a girl at a grocery store anyway?" Dean asked incredulously, his eyes flicking between the two as they stood in the doorway.

"Dean, stop! It's not like that at all!" Sam was waving his arms around as if this would help prove his point.

"Oh, thank god. She's way too young for you." Dean replied with a sigh. Sam activated bitchface #149. "So, what's your name?" he asked the girl.

"My name's Holly. Holly North. I'm from California, and I have no idea how I got here." she replied.

Confusion spread across Dean's face. "... Oh." was all he could say.

"Yeah, that was what I wanted to talk to you about." Sam said.

The three of them unloaded all of the groceries from the Impala and Sam and Dean started putting things away while Holly took her backpack and set it in the corner of the living room. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table clicking away on her laptop. Holly decided that she wanted to make some conversation, so she crept up behind Charlie and introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Holly North! You're Charlie, right?"

Charlie jumped and turned in her seat, a shocked expression upon her face as she took in the sight of the grinning teen behind her. "I didn't even hear you coming up behind me! Who are you? How did you get in here? And how do you know me?" she started to stand, but Holly raised her hands in surrender.

"It's okay, it's okay! Sam brought me here. I seem to have a problem that the Winchesters can solve." Holly smiled at her.

Charlie started catching on. "Oh, a fan of Carver Edlund's books, are you?" she asked with a smirk.

"Uhm… yeah, I guess you could say that." Holly smirked back.

"Oh… Alright, then. Holly, was it? Can you go and tell Dean that I finished tracing the call?" Charlie asked her as she turned back to her laptop.

"You what!?" Dean asked as he was just entering the room. "That's fantastic! Where'd it come from?"

Kevin walks into the room at this point. "I was just heading to the kitchen," he announced, and began heading in that direction.

"Kevin!" Holly called out joyfully, being able to recognize someone else.

"You don't look familiar… Have we met before?" he asked her, frozen in place with a bewildered look on his face.

"No, but-" Holly started, but Sam cut her off.

"It's a long story…" Sam explained. Holly shrugged slightly and nodded, agreeing with Sam.

"Which we will get to in a minute, but for now I want to know where Cas's call came from. The longer we wait, the farther away he can get," Dean explained.

"But at least he can't fly, otherwise you'd have zero chance finding him," Holly piped up. Dean, Charlie, and Kevin turned to face her in shock, wondering how she could possibly know that Cas once had wings. Holly motioned her head toward Sam. "Like he said, it's a long story."

Dean shook his head in disbelief and turned his attention back to Charlie. "Well? What'd you get?"

"Right," Charlie spun back around to face the computer screen. "It looks like he called from a public phone booth in northern California… somewhere in the Sacramento area?"

This caught Holly's attention. "Sacramento? That's where I live!" When she noticed everyone staring at her again, she decided to explain. "Okay, so I was walking to my friend Isabelle's for a sleepover, and I decided to take the scenic route which is really pretty... It's kind of like this bike trail and there's these trees that canopy over it and it's like you're walking through a forest, except you're not… and it leads from the back of this park to this other point that's, like, only a couple of blocks from her house. And so, I was in the middle of this trail, right? and then she called me on my cell, but the call randomly dropped, and then the trees started falling, so I had to run, and then there was this weird, thin barrier thing that was blocking me, so I… I didn't wanna get squished by trees, so I hoped for the best and sped up as fast as I could, and eventually… well, the trees disappeared and I ended up about a block from the store that Sam was headed to, and when I saw him I recognized him. I just had one thing wrong, though. I thought he was Jared Padalecki."

When she was done speaking, Holly looked around to see if anyone believed her, after all, it was a rather roundabout story. If she was being honest with herself, she wouldn't believe a story like that without some kind of proof.

Dean was squinting at her, trying to grasp her story. He figured if Sam believed the girl, then her story must have some kind of truth to it. Sam commented when he saw Dean's expression. "She thought I was famous, and was also asking about a guy named Jensen," he said to jog his memory.

Dean finally showed some recognition on his face. "Oh, you mean when we were-?" he stopped himself, eyes wide. Sam nodded to confirm Dean's non-vocalized question. "Well son of a…" he trailed off.

"'You know what I say when I feel like swearin'? Fudge.'" Holly quoted in a light country-like accent, staring at Dean. Sam grimaced at the unpleasant memory. Charlie just laughed at the reference, and then Dean scowled at her, so she stopped laughing.

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" Kevin asked. Everybody turned to face him, and his face turned red for being on the spot.

"Don't worry about it, Kev," Dean assured him, and Kevin huffed and continued his way into the kitchen.

Charlie pulled up a map of the area and pointed to a zoomed in area of the screen. "This is the general location of where the phone booth was."

Holly looked over her shoulder and examined the map. "Yeah! That's where I was!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the same location. Charlie lowered her hand as Holly continued explaining. "I started here at my house, and I was going to go this way," she abruptly halted the path she was tracing and tapped the screen at an intersection. "But there was this guy who kept me from walking out in front of a car right here, which I'm glad for, but he was staring at me funny, so I decided to go this way," and she traced the road up to the park. "The trail starts here," she said as she pointed to the back of the park, and she traced her finger across an unmarked path. "And the trees started falling here, so I ran here…" she said, and stopped when she reached a marked road and tapped the screen again. "There should've been another dirt trail right here, but instead I managed to stumble into Kansas. Not your typical Wizard of Oz story, but still pretty crazy if you ask me" Holly mumbled, scratching the back of her neck.

Holly saw Kevin heading back to his room out of the corner of her eye with a plate of pie, so she snuck away from the group to get a slice for herself. While in the kitchen she felt the bulge of the watch in her pocket, so she pulled it out and brushed her thumb over it. However, when she looked down, she noticed something different about it. The picture under the glaze had inverted; instead of a black background with white wings, there was a white background with black wings. That's odd… she thought, but simply shrugged and placed the watch on the counter so she could cut the pie.

Dean noticed Holly coming out of the kitchen with a slice of pie in hand, but makes no move to get one for himself. Instead focuses all of his attention on finding Cas. Charlie and Holly thought it was kind of cute that Dean wasn't even bothering to hide the amount of energy that he was willing to pour into this. Not that the others weren't, but compared to them, he was nearly overkill. Sam even failed to hide a smirk when he heard the girls' quiet giggles. "Dean, you know, he did say he didn't want to be around us." Sam tried to reassure him. "He'll probably be okay while we figure out how to find him. Besides, he's been in plenty of battles. I'm sure he knows how to fight."

Dean whipped around to face Sam and opened his mouth as if to say something, but shut it immediately and flushed in anger as he turned his face to the floor. He turns back and heads toward his room. "Well, we can decide what to do on the way to California. Get ready to leave, Sam."

"Wait, you're not going on an adventure without me! I helped you trace the call!" Charlie shouted to Dean's back, and he looked at her just before turning the corner.

"I wanna come, too! I wanna come! Please!" Holly pleaded.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, back and forth between the two girls with hopeful smiles plastered on their faces, and then back at each other. "It would be a lot safer for you here," Sam told them.

"I can handle myself out there, Sam. I've faced monsters before," Charlie responded. "Besides, we're just going on a rescue. It's not like we're actually going to be fighting."

"You can never be too safe," Dean rebutted. Charlie glared at him.

"Do you know how many Supernatural episodes I've seen? I know how to kill almost anything you guys have gone up against in the past eight years," Holly argued.

Sam sighed and tried to explain. "It's one thing to know how to kill something, and another to actually be able to."

"Well, there's only one way to get experience…" Charlie commented.

"Not helping, Charlie," Sam answered her.

"So, let me sum this up. You're the Winchesters. You fight evil monsters and fix things that are weird. I'm Holly. I'm supposedly from a different universe. You guys are helping me. I'm coming with you," and before anyone could get in another word, she snatched her backpack and headed out the door to wait by the Impala. Charlie followed on her heels.

Dean looked over at Sam with his mouth open as if he were ready to speak, but Sam cut him off. "Hey, she said she was familiar with the area. She might know some stuff," he told him. "And Charlie's right, she does know quite a bit about hunting."

Dean shut his trap. "Well… I guess that's settled," he responded. "Hey, Kev! You wanna come with us to California for a few days?" he shouted down the hall.

"No thanks, I'm gonna stay and work on this!" a voice shouted back.

"Alright. Let's get going, then," said Sam, and the brothers followed Charlie and Holly out the door.

Holly, nor anybody else for that matter, realizes that she left the mysterious color-changing pocket watch on the counter next to the pie.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean gets into the impala behind the wheel, Sam into shotgun, and Holly and Charlie climb in behind them into the back seat. "Wait, where's Kevin? Holly asked when they started down the road with just the four of them. She looked down the road through the back windshield.

"He's staying back at the bunker. He's working on the angel tablet," Sam explained.

Holly slowly turned back around until she was looking out of the front windshield again. "Oh…" she said simply.

Charlie grabbed Holly's attention by lightly tapping her arm with the back of her hand.

"So, how did you get into Carver Edlund's books?" she asked with a light smile.

"Actually, I've never read any of the books…" Holly clarified. Charlie frowned in confusion. "See, I watched all of the show. Supernatural. There's eight seasons in it now," she explained.

Sam decided to hop in and tell Charlie about his and Dean's adventure so long ago. "You probably read about this in Chuck's books, but Dean and I once adventured to an alternate universe. It was really weird, with all the actors and stuff. I learned that I'm not television material…" he said with a shiver.

Holly huffed a light laugh at his description. "Stop it, of course you are! You're awesome!"

"So that's how you knew me… How do I look on this show of yours?" Charlie asked.

"You're also pretty awesome. You're actually one of my favorite characters! … You know, when this whole thing was fictional… I mean, I still like you even now that it's not fictional, but-!" Holly rambled until she was interrupted.

"It's alright, I get it," Charlie giggled with a soft smile. She held up her hand and Holly shyly gave her a small touch of a high-five. "That's cool, though. I think we're gonna get along great!"

"So what grade are you in?" Charlie asked, assuming Holly was still in high school.

Holly sat up tall. "I'm in my first semester of college!" she looked proud of her answer. Holly looked quite a bit younger than the average college student. "I just graduated high school," she said.

The other passengers in the vehicle looked slightly shocked. "... Wow," Sam commented after a long pause.

"Did you skip a grade or two at some point?" Dean questioned, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Nope. I often get told I look young for my age, though," Holly giggled. She looked back down. "I'm actually seventeen,"

"Neat! What's your major? Or are you still undecided?" Sam asked.

Holly snapped up her head to see both Charlie and Sam's gaze fixed on her, Sam having turned in his seat. "I, um… I'm really into music, actually…" she smiled shyly.

Charlie brought up her hands up to cover her face. "Aww! You're so cute! I just wanna stuff you in my pocket and take you home!" she bubbled in excitement.

Holly gave a sweet smile that reached her blue-gray eyes. She reached up to flick her long dirty-blonde waves of hair out of her face before continuing. "Yeah, I wanna write songs someday! Maybe sing them, too! That's why I decided to take choir; so I can practice my voice and stuff," she didn't speak in a snooty way, but more of a proud-yet-humble way.

Holly reaches down into her pocket, searching for the pocket watch, but is surprised when she doesn't find it there. Where could it have gone?

Charlie noticed Holly's worried expression donning her face. "Something up?" she asked.

"What? Oh, no… I was just- well, you see… I, um… Have you seen a pocket watch anywhere? It's black and white and has angel wings on it…" Holly stuttered through her explanation.

There was tension in the air. Charlie paused before responding. "Um... well, Holly, we've only known you for about an hour… plus whatever extra time you spent with Sam before getting to the bunker,"

"I haven't ever seen you with a watch. Sorry, Holly," Sam shrugged.

"I sure haven't seen no pocket watch," Dean added.

"Well... you see, when I found it, there was a picture of white angel wings on a black background with a glossy finish over it all. It wasn't until I pulled it out of my pocket when I was getting pie in the bunker that I noticed the colors were inversed… black wings and a white background… still a glossy finish…" Holly stared down at her hands while telling the others about the watch she found.

"Where did you find this watch?" Dean asked her with a furrowed brow.

Holly looked up at him through the rearview mirror. "Uh… I found it on the side of the road on the way to Isabelle's…" she trailed off.

"So that would be right before you came here?" he questioned again.

"I suppose… That would be close to the place right before that nature trail where all the trees fell and I ended up here," she agreed.

"And you didn't find this bit of information important enough to share earlier? It might be a clue to help us get you home!" Dean's voice rose steadily.

"... Um, Dean, not for nothing, but you didn't seem too interested in that earlier…" Sam commented. Dean blushed at this. Sam was a bit worried that this watch that Holly was talking about may be cursed in some way considering the way the colors switched when she got to the alternate universe. Dean did have a point, though. The watch may be the way she ended up in Kansas. He sighed and rested his head against the passenger's side window.

"Inversed colors, huh? That sounds cool! I've never heard of anything like it, but still!" Charlie stated.

"I know, right?" Holly smiled at her. "Sorry about not mentioning it earlier, though…" she said more quietly as her smile faded away. Nobody replies, so she remains silent.

It starts to get dark after a while. Charlie asks if they are going to stop at a motel, but Dean tells her that they are going to keep driving. He seems incredibly persistent, so she decides not to push it.

Holly pulls a stuffed turtle from her backpack and snuggles with it. Dean continues to drive as Sam, Charlie, and Holly all begin to doze off, creating a comfortable silence.

Kevin was still back at the bunker. After working on the angel tablet for a good long while, he decides to get himself some more pie. He heaves a long and heavy sigh before getting up and slowly treading to the kitchen.

He looked up at the clock hanging on the kitchen wall. It was really that late already? He really has been working a long time, then. It should be dark outside already.

Sitting on the counter next to the pie was a peculiar item. It looked kind of like a… watch. A pocket watch, in fact. It was kind of antique-looking with a picture of wings on the front.

Thinking it must belong to one of the four that left for California earlier, he loses interest in the timepiece and sets it back on the counter to cut himself a slice of pie.

About an hour has passed. Dean looked over to Sam just as he was passing into Colorado. Sam was leaning to the right slightly, up against the passenger's door.

Dean looked into the rearview mirror at Charlie and Holly. They both seem to have fallen asleep as well, leaning against each other and Holly cuddling her stuffed turtle. Dean lets out a small smile that's hardly noticeable, just before fixing the rearview mirror back on the road again.

Dean focuses on his driving and speeds up a little, hoping to get to the right place before Cas moves too far.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean drives for about six hours before growing tired, so he stops at a gas station to stretch his legs a bit. After climbing back into the vehicle, he pauses. Dean decides that he's driven enough for a while. He turns to his right to find a snoozing Sammy. He shakes Sam's shoulder to rouse him from his slumber.

"Hey man, I've been driving for a while now and I'm starting to get a little tired. Do you think you could take over for a little while?" Dean nearly whispers to him.

"Sure, yeah," Sam replies sleepily. They both get out and swap sides. Sam yawns and stretches on his way over to the driver's side of the impala to be sure he's fully awake. He takes a deep breath as a small, cool breeze blows through his hair.

"Thanks, Sam," Dean says, just before nodding off.

Sam smiles over at his brother. "No problem," he said softly.

It only takes Dean about fifteen minutes to fall asleep. The quiet dark of the night is calming and the purr of the car engine acts as white noise.

The road is empty; all traffic has disappeared as if it were a ghost town. Sam smirks at his own dry humor.

Sam's mind starts to drift off, while simultaneously keeping his focus on the empty road. They had been driving for about fourteen hours total. He turns the rearview mirror to see the back seat. Holly and Charlie were still fast asleep. Sam begins to wonder how Holly could have gotten into their universe. He shakes his head and focuses the mirror back on the road. "Alternate universe, huh?" he says under his breath. Speaking of, Holly brought a pocket watch with her, didn't she? That watch HAS to have something to do with her little universe-hop.

She might have left it back at the bunker. He couldn't think of any other place it'd be. It was really late at night, but Kevin should still be awake. He didn't exactly have a regular sleeping schedule. Sam pulled out his phone with one hand while keeping the other on the steering wheel. He fumbled his phone around in his hand, but eventually managed to open it and dial Kevin's number.

It rang a couple of times before Kevin answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Kevin? It's Sam," he says quietly, careful not to wake the other three.

"Sam? Is everything alright? It's really late…" Kevin trails off.

Sam pauses before answering. "What? Yeah, we're all okay," he whispers. "They're all sleeping, while I'm driving,"

Kevin huffs a light laugh. "Dean let you drive?"

"Of course Dean let me drive," Sam frowned at the speaker and Kevin shook his head smiling, even though they were both fully aware that they couldn't be seen by the person they were speaking to on the phone.

"Whatever. What's up, Sam?"

"I was wondering if you've seen a pocket watch around the bunker," he paused as he recalled the details Holly spouted as she described the watch. "It's antique-looking with a black and white picture of angel wings on the front?" he recited carefully.

Kevin thought for a moment. "Actually, I have seen something like that. It was in the kitchen. Why do you ask?"

"Don't touch it, Kevin. DON'T touch it," Sam instructed very boldly.

"Aren't Dean, Charlie, and that other girl all asleep about three feet from you?" Kevin questioned him. Sam silently scolded himself.

"Her name is Holly, and yes," Sam sighed defeatedly. He could practically hear Kevin's smirk through the speaker. "I think that watch may have something to do with how she got here, so whatever you do-"

Kevin cut Sam off. "Hey! All I did was walk into the kitchen to get some pie. That little watch just happened to be sitting there next to the knife, so I picked it up out of curiosity. It only took me a few seconds to get bored of it. I found the pie to be much more interesting, so don't accuse me of anything!"

Kevin's voice grew more irritated with every word. When he finished his little speech, Sam pulled his cell back a few inches and stared at it incredulously. "Nobody is blaming you for anything, Kevin. I was just warning you," he finally replied.

Kevin, now pissed off, waited a few seconds to decide how he was going to take Sam's reply. Finally, after a long sigh, he gave in with a "Fine. I won't go near the watch until you guys come home,"

Sam decided that this was fair. After thanking Kevin and exchanging farewells, Sam hung up. He feels a sense of relief or something like it now that he knows the location of the pocket watch. It might become an object of importance at some point.

The sun rises just after they cross the Nevada border. The golden light illuminates the navy sky, drowning all the stars and setting the overall atmosphere to an airy light-blue. Holly and Charlie wake to the light shining in their faces.

Charlie groans. "Mmmh. I'm hungry, Sam,"

Sam turns up to the voice. He fixes the mirror so he can see the two waking girls in the backseat. "Okay then, what do you suggest?" keeping his voice hushed, so he didn't wake Dean.

Both Charlie and Holly got the hint as they glanced in Dean's direction. Neither commented on it, but instead they kept their voices to a minimum as much as possible.

As they passed by a McDonald's, Holly decided that it was good enough for her, so she quietly stated "Yay, mcmuffins!"

Charlie chipped in with the near silent enthusiasm and copied Holly's statement. They gave each other a small fist bump when Sam smirked and turned around the Impala to head for the McDonald's Drive-Thru. "I love their hash browns!" Holly shared. "Thank you, Sammy!"

Normally, anybody other than Dean calling him 'Sammy' would tick him off, but Holly seemed… different. He smiled back at her through the mirror. "No problem,"

Charlie and Holly told Sam their orders, and Sam ordered something for himself and for Dean. It wasn't until the middle of the drive-thru that Dean stirred, and finally woke up fully with a nudge on the shoulder from Sam. "Sam? How long was I asleep?" he asked through a yawn.

Sam gave him a small smile. "We just past the Nevada border. You've been asleep for about five hours. Charlie and Holly just woke up too, and we're in the McDonald's Drive-Thru to get some breakfast,"

"Awesome," Dean looked around and realized that they had already passed the order station. "Did you order me something, too?" he asked, and Sam nodded. "Did you get me some pie?" he grinned at Sam. Sam nodded again, sporting a bitchface. "Sweet!" Dean exclaims, stretching out his arms.

They made their way through the drive-thru and passed out the breakfast sandwiches. In no time they were back on the road.

After a little while, Sam mentioned that he called Kevin and asked if he had seen Holly's watch. This caught everybody's attention. "So… What'd he say?" Holly asked him, wondering why he would mention it… unless Kevin actually HAD seen it…

"Kevin said you left it on the kitchen counter, next to the pie," Sam replied matter-of-factly.

Holly paused before reacting. "Oh… whoops…" she said.

The car is silent for a little, while everybody eats their breakfasts. Once everyone finishes, Dean offers to take everyone's wrappers to the garbage bin near the door. When he comes back, he tells Sam to scoot to the passenger's seat and Sam moves willingly.

"Ooh! Can I drive?" Charlie asks Dean excitedly.

"Hell no!" Dean deadpans. Charlie frowns at him.

Holly manages to keep a straight face through this entire exchange. Then out of nowhere, she starts speaking. "I'm not allowed to drive at all," she says with a quiet tone.

Sam turns in his seat to look back at her. "Seventeen, right? You should have a driver's permit. Or at least, getting close to getting one. Have you taken the written test yet?" he questioned. Holly shook her head. Sam just looked confused at her.

"No," she solidly confirmed. "I can't. I have epilepsy. I have to go an entire year without seizures before even starting to work on anything related to driving."

Everybody freezes briefly, figuring out how to respond. Sam finally breaks the silence. "So… you're on medication for this, right?" he asks, slightly tense. It seems like Dean also catches on to the problem.

Holly just smirks. "Of course."

When it becomes clear that she didn't intend to speak any further, Charlie asked "And… did you bring any of your medicine with you?"

"Oh! Of course I did!" Holly huffs a laugh. "In fact, I have a pill box that's full and set for the whole week!" she grins.

Sam sighed out of relief. "Well then, hopefully we'll be able to get you home by then," Sam says with a tone that is slightly tense.

"Sorry about the whole seizure thing," Charlie says apologetically.

Holly smiles at her. "It's nobody's fault, don't worry about it. I'm just learning to live with it. The big ones, grand-mals, are practically gone. I just get small ones now. Partials. They make my brain feel kinda fuzzy, and I can't speak or anything. I just, like, can't drink alcohol and stuff like that because it'll reverse the medication's effects," she explains. Charlie nods understandingly.

Dean pipes up at this piece of information. "Beer is a necessity to my life," he replied, shocked.

Holly only shrugged. "It's illegal for me to drink at this age anyway. It doesn't bother me at all," she left it at that and turned to look out the window.

Dean finally revved up the car and started driving. Once he got out of the parking lot, he turned on some rock-n-roll and started speeding through Nevada.


	5. Chapter 5

As they started getting close to the Sacramento area, Holly started getting a bit lively as she recognized her surroundings. She started pointing things out that the impala drove past. Dean just focused on his driving, but Sam and Charlie both hummed and nodded at her words.

When they got close enough, Dean instructed Charlie to pull out her laptop. She opened it up and clicked on a few things to reveal a map on the computer screen. "Hey! I know that place!" Holly said excitedly. "Yeah! That little marker right there was right about where I was when I was walking to Isabelle's and ended up in Kansas," she explained, pointing to the cursor on the screen.

"Well then, you disappeared right about in the same spot that Cas's call came from. The trace said it was made from a public phone booth," Charlie replied.

"Oohhh…" Holly dragged out as she thought. "You know, now that I think about it, there IS a phone booth over there. I never really see it there because nowadays everyone has cellphones. It just kinda… sits there in the background. Cas probably called from there," Holly sounded sure of herself at her last statement.

Dean pulled around the impala to park in a convenient spot. "Okay, then. This is it, right?" he asked Charlie and Holly. When they both replied in something along the lines of 'yes', he climbed out and stretched his arms over his head with a yawn. The other three were reminded of how contagious a yawn could be, and followed suit in an orderly fashion. Dean smirked at them all.

If anybody noticed Dean's smirk, they didn't acknowledge it. Instead, they turned and began walking toward the location where the phone booth was supposed to be.

When they reached the dirt path that was canopied with trees, Holly's jaw dropped. She paused her rhythmic pace, and Dean, Sam, and Charlie all looked back to see what was bothering her. She began walking again, a slow mindless trudge up to one of the tree trunks. She placed her right hand firmly on the tree at chest level and pressed hard against it. When the tree didn't move, she pulled her hand back and it reflexively balled into a light fist near her chin. She stumbled backward, continuing to gape at the tree.

"What? What's wrong?" Dean asked cluelessly. Sam and Charlie also just looked at each other and shrugged.

Holly's eyes didn't move from the tree. "It's just… I know I saw these trees fall. And now they're standing so sturdy. It's… it's… nothing short of unimaginable," she said in awe.

"Well, at least now we know that you're not from here…" Dean smirked again. Nobody else smiled with him. After realizing this, his face turned into a pout.

After a while, Holly finally replied to him. "Definitely not from here… I wonder how much else is different…" she stated in a dazed tone.

Sam decided to interrupt after he figured they were staring at the tree long enough. "Hey, guys… Why don't we go find a motel or something? It's starting to get late,"

Everybody agreed and started to head back to the Impala. They all climbed into the spots that they were in previously and Dean drove them all to the nearest motel while still pouting. When Dean parked the car, Sam held out his hand expectantly. Dean reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and giving him a card. "Thanks," Sam responded quietly.

Charlie and Holly climbed out of the back seat and began to follow Sam. "Where are you going? It doesn't take three people to order a room," he laughed a little.

Charlie made a exaggerated pointing gesture between Holly and herself, simply stating "Bathroom." Holly nodded sweetly in agreement.

Sam paused briefly and then turned around and shook his head, muttering something about "Why do girls always have to go to the bathroom in groups?"

Sam ordered the room while Dean took some "just in case" weapons out of the car, along with his and Sam's duffels and Charlie and Holly's backpacks out of the trunk and backseat, setting them all on the ground behind the Impala. Sam, Charlie, and Holly were back by the time he got everything that they needed on the ground.

"Grab your stuff and let's go," he told the other three, and they all picked up their respective bags and began to search for their room.

"Let's see, room 103… I found it! It's right there!" Charlie yelled in excitement. Holly smiled at her in amusement.

"Charlie!" Dean whispered harshly. "You can't spout spontaneous excitement in the middle of the night! People are trying to sleep!"

Charlie frowned at him and was silent the rest of the way.

They reached room 103 and Sam swiped the card key. The door opened easily, and once the four were inside the room he let go of it. The heavyweight door swung hard and slammed shut. Dean glared at him, so Sam responded with a silent apologetic look. Charlie looked back and forth between the brothers, watching them make faces at each other.

Holly, however, was paying no attention to this. She walked to the far end of the room and dropped her backpack in between the bed and the wall. She pulled out her stuffed turtle and plopped it on the pillow next to her backpack, claiming the spot. Dean, after having given up in the "brotherly face war", followed suit. He dropped his duffel at the foot of the same bed Holly was standing near. Sam and Charlie took the other bed, with Sam on the inside and Charlie on the outside.

Once everybody had silently informed each other of where each of them intended to sleep, Charlie reached into her backpack and pulled out her laptop once more. She set the computer onto the desk in the room and sat in front of it, on one of the chairs. Everyone got a good look of the area once Charlie got the map screen open. They all try to figure out how far away Cas might be by now, considering how long ago he called, and where exactly he might be within that radius.

After talking a little and trying to come up with a game plan, they decide to go out and discuss ideas over dinner. Dean drives the impala around until they find a diner that everybody agrees on. After ordering something simple, they start trying to come up with ideas again.

"Hey, why don't we search the main road between my house, well, my doppelganger's, I mean, and Isabelle's? Both places are within the radius," Holly stated.

"Sure, that sounds like a good place to start," Dean replies.

Once everyone finishes eating, they hurry out the door. Dean speeds the car to the start of the main road instead of the walking path, where they were earlier. He starts to slow down, and all four of them scan as much of the street and sidewalks as they can at a slow driving pace. Unfortunately, they have no luck this time around.

Once they reach the other end of the road, Sam speaks up. "Did anyone spot him?"

Three voices simultaneously groan out a "No."

They all wait a second, the car unmoving. Dean rubbed his hand slowly down his face and sighed. "I guess we're going back, then. Try our luck tomorrow. It's getting pretty late." Dean doesn't wait for any reaction before revving the engine, but eventually the other three passengers nod in agreement.

Holly sighs heavily and leans her head against Charlie's shoulder. The trip back to the motel is mostly silent.

They all go back to the motel to get some sleep in order to get an early start on the day tomorrow.

Sam and Charlie both get ready for bed and fall asleep right away. Dean also climbs into the spot he claimed earlier and simply lays there for a bit. His eyes were closed, so it looked like he was sleeping.

Holly looked over her shoulder to make sure everyone was asleep. Dean, Sam, and Charlie all had their eyes shut, looked calm, and had steady breathing. She watched for a few moments before deciding that it was safe. She slowly and quietly reached down into her backpack to pull out her notebook and a pen.

Holly sat there and wrote in her notebook for a few minutes before Dean turned to face her. He propped himself up on his elbow. Holly turned back at the sound of the sheets moving, and dropped her pen out of surprise when she saw that Dean was awake. "I'm sorry, Dean," she whispered with her hands up in surrender. She ducked her head down. "I didn't mean to wake you."

Dean stared at Holly for a moment. His face showed concern. "Don't worry, I was already awake," he whispered back lightly. When Holly didn't seem convinced, he repeated himself. "Hey, look at me," Holly looked up obediently. "I wasn't even asleep. You didn't wake me up, okay?" he reassured her. Holly let out a long sigh, and nodded. "Are you okay?" he asked her. Holly nodded again, wordlessly. She dropped her gaze back to her notebook. She didn't get much written… maybe a couple of sentences at most. Dean followed her stare down to the notebook in her lap. "Whatcha up to?" he whispered. "If it's your diary or somethin', I'll just face the other way."

Holly shook her head. "No, it's… it's just my notebook…" she said quietly, continuing to stare down. Her tone of voice made it sounded like she had more to say, so Dean waited patiently. "Yeah… I, um… I write when I feel troubled. I keep a notebook with me and I write down whatever is bothering me, then I tear it out and keep it in my pocket until it doesn't bother me anymore. It's… kind of therapeutic, actually. For me, anyway. It feels like I'm… talking through it. Like I'm telling somebody else. It keeps me from feeling bottled up. And when the problem doesn't bother me anymore, I burn it," she gives Dean a toothy grin.

Dean smirks and raises an eyebrow at her wide grin. "Okay," he whispers quietly after a while. "So… what were you writing about, then?" he asks her. "If you don't mind sharing, I mean…" he adds when he notices her smile falter a little.

"I was just…" she starts, but pauses and looks up to the ceiling as she thinks about her words. "I was going to write about… how I was missing home. And how I was wondering if I was ever going to get back…" she speaks carefully, and takes a moment to glance at Dean. "I…" she started again, but didn't say anything more. Dean continued to wait for her to finish. "I was also going to write about how I know that monsters are real in this universe, regardless whether or not they were real in my own, and that scares me…" she carries on slowly, explaining herself.

Holly looked over her shoulder and saw that Dean was staring at her intently, listening to every word. A beat passed. Dean stared hard into Holly's blue-gray eyes and began speaking. "You have nothing to worry about," he said seriously. "We're definitely gonna get you home, and as long as you stay with Sam and me, you'll be in the safest place on the planet," he reassured.

This made Holly feel slightly better, so she laid her journal on top of her backpack and turned back around, laying on her side. She snuggled her stuffed turtle right under her chin and looked up at Dean. He was lying beside her on his back with his eyes closed. "Thank you," Holly whispers at him and smiles. Dean doesn't look at her or say a word. He only smiles, but Holly sees this. Dean knows that Holly sees this, and Holly is content. They both finally drift off to sleep.

Castiel is sitting on a curb near an alley. He was really tired, trying to run from the angels. It's been two whole days since he's called Dean on that phone call booth.

Somebody walks towards him, trying to keep their presence unnoticed, so Castiel kept his back turned for as long as he could. The stranger stopped walking at a safe distance. "Castiel? What are you doing here? I can sense your grace is at least a few states east…"

Castiel's eyes widen at this comment. He turns to find a girl with dark curly hair, and obviously possessed by an an angel, looking down on him. "Every angel out there is looking for you. Every single one of them. They're all furious that you and Metatron kicked us all out. So now I'm going to end my little revenge-seeking hunt right here," she spouts as she reveals her angel blade.

Castiel picked himself up off of the ground and held his hands up in the air in defense. "Why do you want to kill me? Would my death really solve your problem?" he asked the other angel.

The woman lowered her blade by an inch or two as she mulled over Castiel's words. "No, not really…" she finally answered. "But I would feel a little better."

Castiel prepared to dodge, and the woman charged at him. Castiel ducked and rolled to the side. Once he scrambled back up off of the ground, he sprinted to the back alley to hide. Hiding behind a dumpster, he realized that he didn't have any weapons to fight off this angel with, so he picked up a sharp piece of glass off of the ground and made a good-sized cut on his left arm. He then used the blood from his arm to draw a sigil with his hand on the side of the dumpster. Castiel waited patiently, and after a few moments of silence the attacking angel rounded the corner of the dumpster to search for him there. He slapped his bloody hand in the center of the red sigil, and the female widened her eyes. A bright light came from what seemed to be the center of her, and she disappeared without a trace.

Castiel was breathing heavily. He gave himself a moment to catch his breath, and then gave a tired sigh. He needed a good night's sleep. Being a human was exhausting. Especially when almost every angel in heaven was on his ass. This might've been easier to handle if he had his wings…

Slumped against the wall, Castiel began to wonder how his grace could possibly still be intact, and in the United States no less. He continues to ponder this for a long while, but eventually his tiredness got the better of him and he fell into a fitful slumber against the wall in the alley.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam's alarm went off at six in the morning, and he flopped over lazily to turn it off. He gets out of bed and yawns as he shuffles into the bathroom to take a quick shower. The cascading water awoke him fully, and when he finished he threw the towel over his head and dried off his hair. He tossed his towel in the corner of the bathroom floor. Sam walked out of the bathroom and headed over to Charlie, Dean, and Holly, who were all still sleeping soundly. He reached over to shake each of their shoulders one by one, but was met with three tired groans followed by almost going back to sleep. "Come on, guys!" he protested. "Time to get up! Let's get some breakfast or something!"

"Ugh… Just bring something back, Sammy…" Dean mumbled as he continued to nod off. Charlie and Holly didn't say anything, but were just laying with their eyes half open.

"Um… Alright, what do you want, then?" Sam asked slowly.

Holly turned her head towards Sam, who was now standing by the door. "There's this sort-of fast food place nearby on a street called A Street, and it's got the best breakfast burritos. It's called Adalbertos," she told him. Sam nodded at her and she smiled.

"Yeah, breakfast burritos actually sound kinda good," Dean agreed.

"Can you get me the one with the bacon and potatoes and eggs and cheese?" Holly asked. She was sitting up now. Dean was leaning on his elbow, and Charlie was leaning back on her arms.

"That sounds good, can you get me one too?" Charlie asked him.

Sam nodded at her. "Sure thing. You want one, Dean? Or something else?" he questioned his brother.

"I dunno," Dean replied. "Get me whatever looks good,"

"Alright, I'll be back soon, then," Sam says over his shoulder as he heads out the door.

Once Sam leaves, Dean groans once more and then stumbles tiredly into the bathroom to get changed and ready for the day. After getting all ready, he exits the bathroom and Holly enters the now available room. While Holly gets changed, Dean starts packing all of his stuff in his duffel bag.

Charlie is staring off at the wall, but eventually decides to speak up. "You know, we didn't check that one area very well yesterday. With all the trees? Maybe we should look at that more thoroughly," she said, eyes never moving.

"What makes you think we'll find something there?" Dean questions her.

Charlie turns to look at him now. "It's just a feeling in my gut…" she says determinedly. Dean decided not to question her anymore on the subject.

They both waited for Holly to get out of the bathroom. Charlie got out of bed and stretched. She shuffled past Holly as she made her way out of the bathroom.

Holly walks to her backpack, sitting next to Dean, and begins to stuff her pajamas into it. She pulls out a pill box and proceeds to take her pills with a bottle of water. "Geez, how do you take that many pills at one time?" Dean questions her.

"Well, I've always been pretty good at swallowing large pills, for like antibiotics when I got sick, you know? And I started out with a small amount of medication and it slowly grew in number of pills. I now take six in the morning and eight at night, but that includes supplements and things," Holly answers him while fiddling with the things in her backpack. She stuffs her journal into one of the pockets, followed by her stuffed turtle.

Dean shook his head and simply brushed it off. "Anyway, how'd you sleep last night?"

Holly smiled at him a little. "I felt a little better after talking to you last night. A little safer," she drags her gaze to the floor.

Dean smiles back at her. It makes him feel good that he was able to help. Dean watches Holly as she zips up her backpack after packing everything. "You know, Charlie suggested searching around that place with all the trees, where you were right before transporting to Kansas?"

"That sounds like a good idea. I like it!" Holly said with a big grin. She got excited at the thought of showing Dean, Sam, and Charlie where her house and Isabelle's house was.

The front door and the bathroom door of the motel room opened simultaneously. As Charlie quickly worked her way around the room and packed all of her stuff away as Sam passed out the burritos. "Here's the bacon ones," he recited as he handed Charlie and Holly their burritos. "And Dean, on the menu there was a burrito that was just like those, except there's little pieces of steak instead of bacon. I got the same thing for myself," Sam handed Dean a burrito, and then settled in the desk chair with his own.

"Ooh, the steak ones are good, too!" Holly gushes. "Thank you, Sam!" she says with a grin through a big bite of breakfast burrito.

"Hey, don't talk with your mouth open," Dean chided, but there was no venom in his words. Sam noticed, and gave Dean an odd look, but only for a split second.

"Yes, thank you, Sam," Charlie said sweetly before digging into her burrito.

The room grows quiet as everyone eats, and when they all finish, they wad up the wrappers and toss them in the waste bucket. "That was good," Dean comments as the others nod in agreement. The four of them finish packing up a few things, and before long, they're all headed out of the door. "Okay, so Charlie suggested going back to the nature trail to look for clues on where to find Cas," Dean explains, and Sam nods.

"That sounds like a good start," Sam answered. Everyone dropped their bags next to the trunk of the impala and Dean pulled out his keys to open it.

Charlie takes note of the fact that Dean is filling Sam in on what they're going to do, so she tries to make herself useful. "Hey guys, hand me the key cards and I'll go and check out," she interrupted. Sam and Dean both glanced at her briefly before pulling out their wallets and taking out a card each, handing them over to Charlie.

Holly also wanted to be useful, so she started packing their stuff in the trunk. Dean's hand would mindlessly reach for something every once in awhile and Sam was listening too intently to Dean to really do anything, so she loaded all of their bags for them. She finished just as Dean was done explaining everything.

Sam and Dean both looked down to see what was left to pack, but to their surprise, everything was already in the trunk. They flinched slightly as Holly slammed it shut. "Oh, you didn't need to do that…" Sam trailed off. Holly only smiled in response.

"Hey, bitches! Let's get this show on the road!" Charlie shouted from behind them, beaming as she approached. Dean, Sam, and Holly all huffed a breath of laughter with a half-smile before moving to get into the car in their respective places.

Once they got out of the parking lot and onto the main road, Holly began spouting the directions to her house. "Okay, not at this intersection but the one after it, hang a left," she instructed, and Dean nodded at each direction. Sam and Charlie just stayed silent, letting Holly direct Dean around town to the right house from the back seat. Watching her was kind of funny. She was sitting directly behind him and leaned forward as far as she could go while still in her seatbelt and was holding the back of the seat in front of her with one hand, and had the other hand stretched up in front of Dean's face and pointing to different things.

Dean didn't speak for the fear of his voice sounding angry, but by looking at his face it was easy to tell that he was really annoyed by the fact that Holly's hand was waving in his face. Sam glanced over out of the corner of his eye, and when he saw Dean's face, it suddenly became really difficult to hide his laughter, but he managed until they got there.

"Welcome to my house, guys!" Holly exclaimed as exaggeratedly gestured to the building while jumping. "Come on, come on! Let's go inside!" she grinned, but Sam grabbed her forearm and jerked her away. Holly's grin faded immediately. "What?" she frowned at him. "I just wanted to introduce you guys, and then we can keep looking for Cas,"

"Holly, I don't think that's such a good idea," Sam answered her.

Holly finally brings her eyes up to meet Sam's. Her brow furrows, and her frown deepens. "Why's that?" she asked with a quip in her voice.

Sam waits a moment before answering her. "You said you watched all of the 'Supernatural' episodes, right?" Holly nodded to answer. "Then you saw Dean and I tumble into your world, yes?"

"That's right…" Holly trailed as her eyes squinted a little in curiosity, wondering where this was going.

"Do you remember seeing all of the other people on the set, and that they called us by different names and expected different reactions from us?" Sam asked, slowing his questions and drawing out the words.

After a second or two, a look of realization dawned on Holly's face. Her jaw went slack, and Sam lessened his grip on her arm, but still held her in place. "I have a doppelganger here, don't I? In some kind of situation with a different name, different… everything. I… can't be here," her voice grew quiet, almost to a whisper, and the conversation had now drawn Dean's and Charlie's attention, so Holly had three sets of eyes watching her. Sam let go of her arm gently, but continued to watch her. "I can't be here…" she repeated, whispering.

They all waited a few seconds before Holly turned a 180. "Holly, you can't go up there!" Sam yelled at her, but she didn't move.

"I know," she said, just loud enough for him to hear, as she stared at the house distantly. She turns back around, towards Sam, Dean, and Charlie. They were all watching her while wearing worried expressions, so she smiled at them. "C'mon, let's go. Izzy's house is this way," she says cheerfully as she walks back down the driveway and turns a sharp right when she reaches the sidewalk. Charlie rushes up to Holly so they can walk side-by-side, and when Holly notices Charlie walking next to her, she takes her hand and smiles.

Sam and Dean followed close behind as Holly led them in the direction of the route she took, and all four of them scanned over everything for clues. When they reached a busy intersection, Holly backed up a little, pulled Charlie in the opposite direction by the hand, and stared inquisitively at a small patch of grass. Charlie looked up questioningly. "What?"

"This is where I found that pocket watch," Holly answered. The other three also began intensely staring at the grass patch. Sam even got down on his knees to pad around the grass with his hands and everyone watched carefully, but after a while when he didn't find anything, he stood back up and simply shrugged. They were all a little disappointed, but continued onward anyway.

When they reached the crosswalk, Dean reached out to press the button, but Holly stopped him. He pulled his hand back to his side, turned to her, and frowned. He was about to ask what the problem was, but Holly interrupted. "I didn't go that way. This is where I almost got hit by a car, but that one guy pulled me back, so I took a different route," Holly said as she shook her head, and then pointed in the right direction which was right around the corner.

"You changed your route just because some dude saved your life? Why?" Dean asked her with a peeved tone.

"Well, I dunno… He seemed kinda weird, and I felt a little scared of him for some reason. He was also asking about the watch I had just picked up and I felt the odd urge to protect it, so I tucked tail and ran. That way," she answered, stretching her arm out to point again.

Holly didn't wait longer than a second before turning 'round the corner and pulling Charlie by the hand. They chatted quietly about random nonsense that Sam and Dean chose not to listen to, so they silently followed behind them once more. They all continued to look around for some kind of clue as to how this all was happening, what was so special about that pocket watch, or where to find Cas.

Charlie was engrossed in whatever she and Holly were talking about, but Sam and Dean were paying a little more attention to the route. After they passed the street corner where Holly's life had been saved by a stranger, the turns they took were no longer ninety-degree turns, and the concrete in the sidewalk began fading away to a simple dirt path. After about a minute, Sam interrupted the girls' conversation. "So is this what you meant by 'the scenic route'?" he asked smiling, and looked up to the sky.

Holly turned her head back to look at Sam, but continued walking. "Oh. Yeah. The other way is actually much quicker to her house, but I decided to go this way," Sam nodded at her reply.

Just after Sam's question, the old, thin, dirt road became visible, and Holly began walking a little faster, tugging Charlie's hand to pull her up to the same speed. At about twenty feet from the first tree that was supposed to be knocked over, Holly finally let go of Charlie's hand and walked right up to it. She grabbed the thick tree trunk by either side and desperately tried to shake the tree back and forth, but it stayed still as a stone. She backed up again and stared in awe once again. That is, until Dean waltzed up behind her and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, pushing her toward the path. "It looks different and wrong, but things will all be right back in your universe. Trust me,"

Holly nodded at Dean's words. "Okay," she replied, and began to willingly move her feet on her own again. Dean nodded once, letting go of her shoulders, and gave her a pat on the back. He sped up his walking a little so that he was walking beside her. Holly slowly and subtly reached for Charlie's hand again, and Charlie noticed. She grabbed Holly's hand and lightly bumped their shoulders together, smiling at her. Holly returned the smile.

Sam was directly behind the other three, but didn't notice any of their actions. Instead, he focused his attention sharply on the surroundings and looking for clues. He looked left, right, high and low, but found hardly anything.

After walking a little ways, Holly started to rapidly slow down. Charlie, who was still holding Holly's hand, was also pulled to a stop. Dean took a few more steps before realizing that the girls were, for some odd reason, not walking anymore. Sam almost ran into Charlie, and Charlie didn't take her eyes off of Holly. Sam and Dean noticed Charlie's unmoving stare, and looked to Holly for and explanation.

Holly gingerly took a step forward, and then a step back. She then turned her attention to the three pairs of eyes that were fixed on her, probably wondering what the heck she was doing. "Right…" she started. "... so I was running from the falling trees, not wanting to get squished by one, but out of nowhere there seemed to be this… this thin, glass-like barrier. Right here," she said, and started flailing her arms to attempt to show the location. "So I did the first thing that came to mind. I turned my shoulder toward it and ran through. I didn't hit anything, or hear any glass breaking, so I just assumed it was adrenaline or something, but then I took a tumble onto a concrete sidewalk. In, uhm, Kansas…" Holly finished, sounding unsure of her own story.

Sam, Dean, and Charlie all nodded slowly, and Holly let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, relieved that they didn't see her words as crazy. She then mulled over the fact that they've all seen many things that most people would call crazy. She finally nodded one last time, and began walking once more. There were no comments.

They all finally reached the end of the small nature trail, and were able to see the sky overhead. "I fell right here, except there was pavement… and I didn't recognize anything. So I picked a direction and started walking," Holly stared at the ground a few moments. "Yeah. See? I knew there wasn't a sidewalk here!" she puffed her chest out and placed her fists on her hips triumphantly.

They continued strolling, searching every nook and cranny, until they were almost to Isabelle's house. Charlie looks down the last back alleyway before getting to the correct street when she caught a glimpse of Castiel just as he was waking. Cas stretched his arms and began to stand up. Charlie took off down the alleyway, and Sam, Dean, and Holly were hot on her heels. Castiel was startled by the sudden game of chase, and stumbled over himself to begin running in the opposite direction. When Dean saw Cas's escape attempt, he began to shout out to him. "No! Hey, wait, Cas! It's just us!" Cas recognized Dean's voice and slowed to a halt. He turned around as Dean continued running until he met Cas, and tackled him in a spine-cracking hug. Cas brought his arms up around Dean slowly, and they stayed there like that until the other three caught up. Dean dropped his arms back to his side and backed up a few steps.

Cas's expression looked really surprised. "What are you all doing here? You shouldn't have come! How did you find me?"

Sam was about to tell him that that's nonsense, and that family always sticks together, like Dean always tells him, but suddenly the reunion was interrupted. A girl with dark and curly hair was suddenly standing at the end of the alleyway, and at the sight of her, Cas's eyes widened in fear. Dean, Sam, and Charlie all turned to see what had Cas so frightened, but what they saw was a very joyful Holly bouncing toward the other girl, shouting "Izzy!".

The other girl didn't smile. In fact, she hardly moved. Holly slowed down a little, and her smile faltered slightly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an angel blade dropped out of her sleeve. Holly froze with her wide eyes glued to the blade, and she screamed.


	7. Chapter 7

Sensing the danger, Dean begins to take charge. "Sam! Take Cas and Holly with you and run! Keep them safe," Sam nods curtly and takes off for the other end of the alley, but not before snatching Holly by the wrist and looking back every so often to make sure Cas is following as well. The threatening angel looked confused as she watched the trio turn the corner at the other end of the alley.

Dean looked back to make sure Sam, Cas, and Holly are long gone before facing the angel once more and pulling out the specialized blade that he had stowed in his jacket. Charlie follows suit, pulling out her angel blade as well, and taking a steady fighting stance.

Dean, Charlie, and the mysterious angel are all waiting for someone to make a move. Finally, the angel decided to speak up. "So… the girl. She's not from here. She's from very far away, in fact… possibly outside our own universe. How did you get her here?"

There's a long awkward pause, while everyone keeps their eyes on each other and keeps a good fighting stance. "Uh… what makes you say that?" Dean finally asked, still baffled by how their opponent correctly guessed Holly's origin.

Charlie clenched her jaw. "What do you want with us?" she asked sternly.

"All I want is Castiel," the angel stated.

Something in Dean tensed. "Sorry, lady, but he ain't up for grabs," Dean almost shouted, before catching himself and forcing himself to cool down a little.

"Do you know what he did to us? Castiel worked with Metatron to kick all of the angels out of Heaven! All of our brothers and sisters fell, screaming and crying in pain, to land on this godforsaken rock!" Tears were now brimming her eyes as she sped through her exclamation, and her voice cracked once or twice, but Dean's face did not falter in the slightest. "Surely you can understand why so many of us want him dead?!" Dean and Charlie continue to glare at her, saying nothing. The angel just sighs and shakes her head before changing the subject. "So if Castiel is here, why is his grace a few states over?"

Dean's eyes widened. "Are you able to sense it?" he asked hastily.

Noting the distress in Dean's tone, the angel decided not to answer. Instead, she changes the topic of conversation yet again.

Dean and the mysterious angel, who they learn is named Ariel, continue their banter and keep their volume in check. Charlie slowly slinks around behind Ariel, who is still in an argument with Dean. Finally reaching her, Charlie catches Ariel off-guard and snags her angel blade from her. Ariel tried to take it back, but Charlie was swift, and moved just out of Ariel's reach. She then tossed the blade to Dean, followed by dodging a punch and a kick. Eventually she lands a right-hook on Charlie's jaw bone. Preoccupied with her victory, Ariel accidentally leaves an opening and Dean lunges in, stabbing Ariel in the back. The tip of the blade goes all the way through, piercing through Ariel's stomach, and Charlie stares at it wide-eyed and cross-eyed. She was about to fall forward, but Charlie manhandled her shoulders to shove her off to the side, to keep from getting impaled herself.

"Are you alright? She knocked your jaw pretty good…" Dean asked worriedly, wincing at the sight of the large bruise already starting to form.

Charlie noted his tone without looking up at him. If Dean sounded worried, it must have looked pretty bad. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, inhaling sharply at the surprising pain of speaking. Her right hand crossed over to the left side of her jaw to check for a knot. Unfortunately, it was already swelling a good amount…

Charlie stepped closer to Dean, and they both looked down at Ariel's body on the ground. Her dark hair would have blended in with the asphalt beneath her head, had her hair not been so curly, and her hazel green eyes were closed lightly, as if she were asleep. Her arms were spread wide across the ground, and Dean and Charlie watched as her wings became visible, going up in hot embers and transforming into flaky ash. It was a beautiful, yet awful sight. Dean bent down to wipe Ariel's blood off of the angel's blade and stowing it in the other side of his jacket.

Dean and Charlie left the scene, walking to the end of the alley and turning the corner into the direction that the other three had gone.

They meet up at the edge of the nature trail, and then the five of them continue on back to the impala together. "So…" Cas started, as he turned towards Holly. "Who are you? I do not believe we have met,"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry about that! Heheh… My name's Holly. Nice to meet you," she smiles at him.

Cas smiles in return, but when he reaches out to shake her hand, he's met with a hug instead. The smile never leaves Holly's face as Cas hugs her back. "My name is Castiel, but you can call-"

"It's okay, Cas! I already know who you are!" Holly interrupts him, beaming.

"But… I don't understand, did Dean or Sam tell you about me?" Cas questions.

Sam sighs. "Don't worry about it, Cas, it's a long story…"

Holly turns to Charlie, and excitedly chirps out the question "So where's Isabelle? Did she go home?" Holly waited a second or two before her voice snapped to immense worry. "Where is she? Is she okay?" she tried not to shout, so her voice came out as a loud and greatly troubled whisper. Charlie stays unusually quiet, so Holly turned to Dean. "Dean, what happened?"

"Don't worry about it," Dean told her, trying to calm her down. Holly frowned at him.

Charlie pulled Holly back around and put an arm around her shoulders and not another word was spoken as they walked back to the impala.

The group reached the shiny black chevy, and Dean began fishing for his car keys in his pocket. "So, Cas, how is your grace not burnt out after getting used in Meta-douche's spell?" Dean asked out of pure curiosity.

"I don't know," Cas answers truthfully. He climbed into the back-left seat. Holly climbed in through the other door and plopped in the middle seat, followed by Charlie, who closed the door after her. Sam and Dean slammed their doors simultaneously, shotgun and driver's side respectively. As they started making their way back to Kansas, Cas piped up again. "I did learn something from that enemy angel back there, before I banished her with the sigil,"

Instead of asking about what the angel told Cas, Dean focused on the last bit of the sentence. "Speaking of which, how are you doing? You had to use your own blood for that thing, didn't you?" Dean aimed the rearview mirror at Castiel's eyes. "Any cuts we gotta fix up?"

Cas shakes his head. "No, nothing major. It can wait," he answered. He then continued on with what he learned from the angel. "According to what I have heard, my grace is located somewhere in the mid-west. I don't know how it got there after Metatron used it, but it's there," Cas finished.

Dean nodded and fixed the mirror back on the road behind him.

About half an hour of silent driving past by before Cas decided to strike up a small conversation with Holly. "So," he started, and Holly turned to look up at him. "I apologize for asking again, but how do you know me?"

Holly smiled and began the story from the beginning as Sam and Dean rolled their eyes, recalling the adventure from their points of view. "Right! So, my name is Holly North, and I'm from a parallel universe. Do you remember back when you and Balthazar sent Sam and Dean to another universe along with the angel Virgil to distract Raphael while you looked for the weapons of heaven?"

Cas's eyes grew wider and wider as Holly spoke. When she asked the question, he only nodded.

"Yeah, I'm from that universe! There's no powers, no monsters or anything, just people. I watched the show, 'Supernatural' on the TV. It's all about the lives of Sam and Dean, starting from when Dean breaks into Sam and Jess's apartment, all the way up to the season eight finale, where all of the angels fall from Heaven because of freakin' Metatron," Holly clenched her jaw when she spoke Metatron's name. "God, I can't believe him," she growled, nearly inaudibly. "Anyway… back to my story. Me and my best friend, Isabelle, are really big fans of the show. I was going to have a sleepover at her house, and we were going to watch a bunch of episodes because she wasn't caught up. We were planning on binge-watching it, starting from season seven, wherever she left off…" Holly huffed a quiet chuckle. "So I had my bag packed, and I was walking over to her place, and I almost got hit by a car… but this guy, he pulled me back… I should've thanked him, I know I should've, but I just got a little scared… a little anxious… so I ran. I took a different route to Isabelle's, and I was just toying with this watch- Oh, wait! The watch! I found this watch on the sidewalk, and it went from black and white to white and black when I hopped universes. Do you think that has anything to do with my universe-hopping?" Holly questioned him, and Cas gazed into nothing as he thought, but Holly brushed off her own question with "Eh, I'm sure we'll figure it out soon,"

After waiting a little while, Sam had a question. "Hey, so the guy who plays Cas, Misha, he died… and so did Bob Singer, and several other important people who make the show run. Dean and I were there during season six, so how did the show make it to season eight?"

Holly replied "Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier… In my universe, none of them are dead. Misha and the others were there for the rest of season six, along with seasons seven and eight…"

Cas finally answered with "Balthazar told me he went to the other universe after he left to fix things. He brought back people, and wiped the memories of those influenced by Sam, Dean, and Virgil. They got the idea to film the episode with themselves dying as such from the traces of the memory wipe,"

Holly continued her story, up until the point of meeting Sam in the parking lot. Cas listened closely to every bit of the story, and when Holly finished speaking, Cas continued to stare forward, quizzically. "Holly, may I see your wristwatch?"

"Oh, it's a pocketwatch, actually," she corrected him.

"Your pocketwatch, then? May I see it?" Cas asked again as he turned to face her.

"Um, well, I don't really have it on me… See, I kind of accidentally left it on the kitchen counter back at the bunker, and Kevin found it and told Sam when they were talking on the phone,"

"... Oh," Cas stated bluntly. He turned back and faced forward once more.

The atmosphere in the vehicle stayed relatively silent, before Charlie spoke up and asked the same question that everyone was thinking. "So, do you think your grace and that watch have anything to do with each other?" She turned her head toward Cas.

Another few minutes pass before Cas finally replies with "It's possible,"

Dean began to drive faster.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Someone in the comments asked if I planned to have Holly paired with somebody. I didn't originally plan to pair her with anyone, actually. But honestly, I ship her with a couple of people sometimes. I have the main parts of this story all figured out, and completely written up to chapter 12-ish (this is gonna be a pretty long story btw, maybe around 40 chaps) but I might be planning a sequel after, and she might be paired with someone then? Who knows? ;)

By the way, I need to apologize in advance... I'm kind of a pretty slow writer, so when I get to the point where I run out of the chapters already written, I won't be able to post as often. I'll still post though, you won't lose me :)

Kevin wandered into the kitchen for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and picked up the watch from the counter once more.

He held it daintily with his left hand, brushing a thumb over the closed surface, and then swapped hands to inspect the back. Flipping it once more, he opened it up and stared at the object as the top of the lid swung downward to show the clock face, and the unmoving hands. Kevin twisted and turned it as he half-heartedly wondered in the back of his mind why Sam would call and ask about such an ordinary-looking watch, and then tell him to leave it alone. Perhaps it was cursed? At that thought, he decided to put the watch back where he found it.

As Kevin began to walk away from the kitchen, he heard the front door open, so he turned to wander towards the group that was now entering the building. They all looked incredibly tired, especially Dean, who had insisted on driving most of the way. Kevin was greeted by the five of them, their enthusiasm wavering, and Holly hugged him before leading him into the living room with the others. Afterwards, she went into the kitchen to retrieve the watch she had left in there.

Holly made her way back into the living room, watch in hand. Everyone stared intrigued at the hand she was grasping the clockwork device with. Holly held her hand out to Cas with her palm facing up, the pocket watch laid in the center of her hand, and the chain dangled between her splayed fingers. After staring for a second or two, Cas reached out and carefully plucked the small piece of machinery from her hand. He slowly but continuously turned and flipped the watch, examining it, while Dean looked over his left shoulder and Sam looked over his right. Holly took a seat with Charlie and Kevin, who had both situated themselves on the floor.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Cas opened the watch. When he pressed the button at the top of the device, they heard more than one 'click' as the lid swung forward. Cas, Sam, and Dean all leaned back away from the watch with a collective "Whoa!" escaping their throats. Holly, Kevin, and Charlie all leaned forward to get closer and see what the fuss was about. The watch sat in Cas's palm as twelve little pinheads popped out of the watch's sides. They were in all different colors, and one for each number.

"Well I'll be damned," Dean mumbled.

"No, don't do that again," Cas immediately responded, turning to look Dean straight in the eyes. Dean gasped at the intensity in Cas's voice, and he was speechless. Cas turned back to look at the watch once more. "Yes… Yes, I can feel my grace closer than before… It is held within this device…" he trailed off, continuing to twist and turn the object in his hands.

Holly, Charlie, and Kevin crowded around the watch as well. "Why don't you just pry it open?" Kevin asked.

Cas didn't look up when he answered "I do not want to damage my grace while doing so. There has to be another way to open this," Cas paused momentarily, and then focused his sharp gaze on the pin near the number 12. Maybe these pins are keeping the device locked? He then raised his hand gingerly toward the colored pinhead and grabbed it with his fingers. He tugged at it, and when it didn't budge, he moved to the next one. After making his way back to the 12, he sighed heavily.

"Here, let me try," Dean tells him and holds out his hand. Cas handed over the watch, and kept his gaze on the broken clockwork as Dean began to push in all of the pins. He then tries wiggling them, twisting, turning, anything he could think of. After a minute or two had passed, Dean glared angrily at the watch.

Sam took this as a cue and took the watch from Dean. Dean frowns at him, but doesn't move to take it back. Instead, he watches Sam study and fiddle with the watch. They all waited a while, huddled around while Sam continued messing with the metallic item. Dean was about to express his impatience, when Sam piped up with a single word. "Roses," he muttered. The others wouldn't have been able to hear him if they weren't standing so close together.

A beat passed before Dean decided to break the momentary silence. He looked up at him, clearly unamused. "... Roses?"

Sam nodded and then, without looking up, he started to explain his theory. "There are twelve little roses engraved into the inside of the lip of the lid," he stated, tilting the object at an angle so everyone could see. Each rose engraving happened to be lined up with a colored pin.

"Oooh! So is it like a puzzle?" Holly asked excitedly to nobody in particular.

Sam nodded his head as an answer to Holly's question, and then Cas answered her verbally. "Yes, it seems we will have to solve the puzzle in the removal of these… small metal pieces. There is a great possibility that that will unlock this device and reveal my grace,"

Dean nodded slowly in understanding. "Okay, roses. How does that help?" he looked at each person to see if anyone had any ideas.

Charlie quickly came with an answer. "Well, I know that different colored roses mean different things,"

Kevin adds to this. "Yeah, maybe to get the pins out, you have to do something related to the meaning of that color of rose,"

Dean steps a little closer to Cas, and turns to face him fully. "So basically what you're telling me is that in order to free your grace, you have to… feel your feelings?"

"Yes, that seems to be the key to opening this device,"

They all stare at the watch, still sitting in Sam's hand, and then Holly remembered something. "Hey guys, you know the white rose represents innocence and purity, right?" She turned to face Cas. "You're still a virgin, aren't you?" Cas blushed a little, but nodded. Holly took the watch from Sam and gave it to Cas. "Here. Try focusing on that while you try taking out the white pin," she smiled up at him as he slowly took the watch from her.

Cas did exactly what Holly told him to do. He focused on his innocence and tugged on the white pin. He also pressed on it, twisted it, anything that he thought would work, and sure enough the white painted metal came right out. Cas blushed again, lightly. "I can feel my grace better now than before…" he trailed off. Holly only smiled, proud that she had come up with the solution to the little lockbox.

"Awesome. Well, I'm completely worn out from driving that far. I think I'm gonna hit the hay," Dean began walking towards the hall, before he was stopped by Holly.

"Wait!" she called, and Dean turned back in confusion. Holly rushed over to Dean and gave him a giant hug. "Goodnight, Dean," she smiled.

Dean smiled back down. "Goodnight," he spoke quietly, and turned back towards the hall.

Holly turned and walked back over to everyone else, never ceasing her smile. Kevin began to approach her. "I think I'm going to go to bed, too," he said, and they hugged each other tight.

"Goodnight, Kevin," Holly told him, and Kevin walked toward the hall as well.

"It's probably best if we all turn in now. It's pretty late," Sam noted, and Cas, Charlie, and Holly all nodded in agreement. "So, you three need spare rooms, right? We have several bedrooms in here, the place is huge," Sam huffed out a laugh.

"Yeah, lemme get my backpack, and you can lead the way," Holly grinned.

Holly and Charlie went to grab their bags, and Cas leaves his white pin and the watch on the coffee table before turning back to Sam. "Alright, let's go," he said, and they all followed him at varying speeds. He turns to the first door on the right. "Here's your room, Cas. Dean's room is right there, across the hall," he said as he turned to point at the door behind him. "My room's right next to you, there," he said, turning back around to point to the next door on the right.

"Goodnight, Cas," Holly said, smiling again as she walked up to hug him.

Once Cas was in his room, Sam took Charlie and Holly to the end of the hall. Again, Sam turned to the right. "Charlie, this is your room. You already know where Cas, Dean, and I are. Kevin's room is right there," Sam said, and spun around to point to the door on the left.

"Goodnight, Charlie," Holly said, smiling widely at her, and they hugged each other tightly.

Charlie retreated into her room and closed the door to get ready for bed. They got back to the door next to Dean's, and Sam turned to face Holly. "Thank you," she told him, and hugged him smiling.

Sam smiled back. "What for?"

"For keeping everyone safe, and being awesome and stuff," Holly grinned.

"Oh. You're welcome, I guess. You don't have to thank me, though," Sam replied. Holly only continued to smile up at him. "Okay. So, you know where everyone's at, right?" and Holly nodded. "Great, so come and get one of us if something's wrong, or anything happens, okay?" Holly nodded at his words again. "Good,"

"Goodnight, Sammy," she smiled softly.

"Goodnight, Holly. Now, go to bed," and she nodded again, entering the room that Sam deemed hers, and Sam went into his room, right across the hall.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Sam is the first to wake. He went into the kitchen and decided to make everyone a hearty breakfast. After he looked at the contents of the fridge, he settled on scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. He started on the bacon first, figuring that he could later cook the eggs in the bacon grease. However, the hashbrowns proved to be a bit more difficult simply because he had never made them before, and wasn't sure what to do. Luckily, Charlie got up right around that time.

"Hey, Sam. What are you making?" Charlie asked him after smelling something delicious.

"Oh, 'morning, Charlie," he greeted her with a pleasant smile. "I was trying to make breakfast for everyone. I've got the bacon going, but then I realized that I don't know how to make hashbrowns," he pouted a little, and held up one of the potatoes he got out.

"Oh, that's easy!" Charlie laughed, grabbing the potato from Sam and taking it to the section of the counter with the cutting board.

"Thank you, Charlie,"

"Yeah, no problem," she grinned back at him.

Sam continued cooking the bacon, and when it was finished, he used the bacon grease on the eggs instead of butter. Meanwhile, Charlie worked on the hashbrowns on the stove burner next to him. They then took the eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns and put each of them on individual plates. Charlie set the table, getting six more plates and some silverware, while Sam went back towards the hall to wake Dean, Cas, Kevin, and Holly.

Eventually all six of them sat down at the kitchen table, while displaying varying levels of energy and grogginess. They all eat in comfortable silence, until Charlie brings up the topic of the watch once more. "So, we should probably find the meaning of those other colored roses, right?"

Sam left the table and came back with his laptop. He continued eating as he began to look up the other colored rose definitions.

Kevin commented next to him "I didn't know some of these rose colors even existed! I thought that maybe they were just white roses in water with colored dye, like carnations, you know?"

"Yeah, I mean like, turquoise roses? Really? I've never seen any of those," Holly added.

"Let's see, turquoise roses…" Sam mutters to himself as he does a quick Google search. "Okay, this'll be an easy one! It says on this website that the turquoise rose stands for self-respect and a state of well-being," he read from the screen.

Charlie decided to enter the conversation again, turning to Cas as she did so. "Yeah! you just need to eat healthy and take a long shower, and we can go and get you a new outfit…"

Dean interrupted Charlie at this point. "Well, it looks like you've got this one handled. I'm going out," Dean swiftly moves to take his plate to the sink and make his way towards the front door.

"Dean, where are you going?" Sam's face scrunches in confusion.

"Pie," Dean replies simply.

Charlie responded to this by grabbing the back of Dean's jacket with her fist and pulling him away from the door. "Dean, we're going to need a ride to the mall. You should come with us, so you can drive!" Charlie explained enthusiastically. Dean growled at her, and marched over to flop on the couch.

Cas finished his breakfast next, and thanked Sam when he got up to take his plate to the sink. Cas closed his eyes and took a long, slow, satisfying sigh. He then got up and walked toward the bathroom to take that shower that Charlie suggested.

Dean glared at the television and waited reluctantly for everyone else to finish eating. He absently flicked through the TV channels to pass the time.

After a while, everyone had finally finished eating and Holly and Charlie were just finishing up the dishes. "Can I come with you when you go shopping?" Holly asked Charlie.

"Of course! We'll have Dean drive, and-"

"Why do I have to take you?" Dean says, interrupting her.

Charlie hides a smirk. "... Or I could drive the impala…"

Dean speedily responds with "Or Sam could drive you there,"

Sam caught on to Charlie's charade quick. "Come on, Dean. What's wrong with Charlie driving the impala?"

Dean sighed heavily. "Fine. I'll take you," he said defeatedly, and turned back to glare at the television once more.

Sam glanced into the kitchen at Charlie to find that she was grinning to herself. He smiled. He had a feeling that she was up to something.

Holly grinned as she turned to Charlie and whispered to her quietly, "You planned that, didn't you?"

Charlie returned her smile and nodded discreetly. They both began to giggle quietly, so they waited a few moments to regain their composure before leaving the kitchen once more. Holly went toward the hall to grab her wallet from her bag. Charlie scanned over the people that were in the living room. Dean was still brooding on the couch, glaring daggers at the TV screen. Sam and Kevin were discussing something in Kevin's notes about the angel tablet. Charlie decided to announce her presence. "So, it'll be Cas, Dean, Holly, and myself… Do either of you want to come with us?" she turned to Sam and Kevin.

Sam and Kevin shook their heads simultaneously. "Nah, you guys have fun shopping. Kevin and I will stay here," Sam smirked. Dean whipped his head to glare at Sam, and Sam let out a small snicker in Dean's direction. Dean growled at him.

Holly made her way back into the living room and watched the television screen with Dean and Charlie, hardly paying attention. Cas finished his shower a few minutes later, and came out with his hair still in a beadhead manner, but with a damp and healthy shine to it. "The bathroom has really great water pressure," he comments with a smile.

Dean set the remote on the table and got up off of the couch. "Alright, let's head out," he said, motioning towards the door.

"Hey, turn off the TV before you leave!" Sam called without looking up, but Dean ignored him and continued towards the door. Dean left the bunker with Cas and Charlie behind him, but Holly stopped in the doorway. She then took off towards the TV and turned it off for Dean, and went back out to the front door.

Right before Holly left, Sam called for her. "Holly," he said, and she turned around to face him. "Thank you," he said with a smile, which she returned and nodded at him.

When she got to the impala, Dean Cas, and Charlie were all waiting for her, but didn't ask anything of her when she didn't say anything.

The four of them eventually made their way to a men's clothing store in a nearby mall. Charlie burst through the doors and immediately headed towards the shirt section. Holly followed her eagerly, but Cas and Dean both seemed a bit hesitant. Eventually Charlie went back to drag Cas forward by the wrist. "I'll just go to that shop a couple doors that way," Dean says, as he gestures toward the left side of the door.

Holly saw Charlie pulling Cas forward when she heard Dean. When she looked back, he had started to leave, so she ran forth to catch him. "Oh, no you don't," she tells him, with her voice down to near whispering. "You're staying with us the whole time we're here. Don't leave, okay? Don't even try,"

Dean held up his hands in mock-surrender. He wasn't sure what the big deal was, but decided not to argue with her. "Okay, okay, I'm not leaving," and began to walk back towards Cas and Charlie.

Holly grinned at her success, and followed in tow. The quartet gathered around a shirt rack, and Holly and Charlie began pulling off shirts and asking Cas questions about his size and color preferences. Cas didn't really reply, he just let the girls do their thing while holding his face in a confused expression. Dean stood nearby, simply because he promised not to leave.

Eventually, they gathered five different shirts and two different pairs of pants. "Alright, why don't you try these on, Cas?" Charlie asks, gesturing to the clothing she had draped over her arm.

Cas simply nodded and obeyed. He stopped right in his tracks and began to take off his coat. "Cas, wait!" Dean started, waving his hands in the air and running forth. "You can't just start taking your clothes off in the middle of the store! You have to go to the dressing rooms!"

"Oh… My apologies…" Cas trailed off, his voice growing smaller by the second. He put his coat back on and looked around, wondering where this 'dressing room' was.

"Ah, this way!" Holly announced after noticing the sign, and began to lead the way.

When the four of them arrived at the entrance to the men's dressing rooms, Charlie instructed Cas to come out and show the rest of them each outfit. "Pick a vacant room, and then lock it when you close it behind you. When you're done putting these on, come back out, okay?"

Cas takes the purple button-up and dark colored jeans from Charlie and heads for the nearest empty dressing room. Charlie took a seat next to Holly on the bench, and Holly patted the spot on her other side for Dean to sit, but he simply grumbled, still upset that she made him stay in the store. Cas came out after a short while. "Wow. That was fast," Dean said. Cas smiled a little at the acknowledgement.

"Looking pretty good, there," Charlie smiled at him, and Dean and Holly nodded in agreement.

"How does that feel on you?" Holly asked, and Cas began to explain what he liked and didn't like about the new, different clothing.

As Cas continued talking, Dean noticed that all of the buttons on the purple shirt were buttoned up, just as the white shirt he usually wears were buttoned. After thinking a little longer, Dean interrupted him. "I'll be right back," he said, and dashed over to the shirt section again. He found what he was looking for and returned just as he said he would, now with three confused stares trained on him. "What? I said I'd be back," he told Holly and Charlie. He then turned to Cas, who was now wearing a red tee and lighter colored jeans than he was wearing before. "Nice, that looks good! Do you like this one better than the other, or…" Dean trailed off with a questioning gaze.

"I like this shirt better than the other one, but I prefer the other pair of pants," Cas informed him.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I thought you might like a tee shirt," he said as he held up a solid black tee. When Cas took it, Dean turned around and walked over to Charlie, who was holding the other clothes. He pawed through the other shirts, seeming to be looking for something specific. Finally, he pulled out a plaid blue and black button-up shirt with white seams, and the darker jeans, handing them over to Cas. "Go try those on," he tells him.

"Dean, which shirt do I wear?" Cas asked him, holding one in each hand.

"No, see, you put the tee on first, and then put the plaid on over it," Dean answered.

After a few minutes passed, Cas came out with the red shirt and light jeans folded up in his arms. He handed them to Charlie, and then stepped back once more. He immediately looked over to Dean, who was taking in his new apparel. Then he noticed that Dean was trying to hide a smile. "What is it?"

Dean met Cas's stare, and then looked back down to his shirt. Again, it was buttoned up all the way. Dean forgot to tell him not to button up his shirt. "C'mere, Cas," he mumbled with a slightly bigger smile.

Cas stepped closer to Dean and Dean came up slowly to meet him halfway. Dean looked down to the collar of Cas's shirt and took his time untying the buttons one by one. Cas felt his face grow warm as he stood there, watching Dean make his way down his shirt. Once he untied the last button, he stepped back a little, and his small smile grew to a grin. "That really brings out your eyes," Dean said in a low voice that almost seemed to be a whisper.

Cas smiles back at him, and then turns to Charlie and Holly, who were still sitting on the bench a few yards away. "I like this shirt the best," he tells them.

"Cas, you haven't tried these ones yet!" Charlie exclaims, but Cas shakes his head.

"No, I prefer this one," he replies firmly. Holly smirked.

"Alright. Go change into your other clothes, and Holly and I will put the others back," Charlie told him. Cas nodded at her and turned, disappearing into the dressing room again. Charlie then turned to face Dean, and grinned. "Thank you, Dean. Do you think you could go and get some socks and underwear for him?" she asked.

"Uh… sure, I guess…" Dean began to walk away, a little clueless to what he was being thanked for.

Charlie handed Holly the light colored jeans. "I think the pants were over there," she told Holly, pointing to her left. "I'll go and put these away," and walked in a different direction.

After a while, Charlie and Holly had put away the other shirts and pants, Dean had gathered a pack of socks and boxers each, and Cas emerged from the dressing room with the jeans and shirts he was planning on getting. Looking around the corner, he found Dean, Charlie, and Holly near the shoe section, motioning for him to join them.

"'Kay, let's get you some shoes," Holly said, looking towards him. "Do you have a favorite brand? What kind do you like?" she asked.

"Uh, well, I usually don't wear anything other than Jimmy's clothes…" Cas trailed off, gesturing to his coat, suit, and tie.

Dean looked down to Cas's dress shoes. "We should probably get you something durable, since you can't mojo them brand new, anymore," he mused, quietly.

"Let's go!" Holly says, already halfway down the aisle. "What kind are you looking for?"

Cas thinks about Dean's comment as he looked down at Dean's shoes, and then his own. "I think I would like to get some boots," he said, finally looking back up at the other three.

They walked past the sandals, dress shoes, and sneakers until finally reaching the several different types and colors of boots. Cas discreetly shot another glance to Dean's boots, then looked back up at the rack. He picked out a pair that looked almost exactly like Dean's, except they were black. He wordlessly picked up the pair and held them up questioningly.

"Do you know your shoe size?" Charlie asked him.

Holly didn't even wait to see him shake his head. She headed to a nearby bench and picked up a metal shoe fitting scale. "C'mere, Cas," Cas walked over, and then seemed clueless as to what to do next. Holly noticed, and told him to sit.

Then Holly seemed a bit clueless. "Um… Charlie? Do you know how to work this?"

"Oh. Yeah," Charlie gave the pants and shirts to Dean, and then headed over to the scale. "Put your heel here, and hold still," she told Cas, and measured his foot. "You're a size twelve," she said, after reading the scale.

Holly walked back to the boots Cas picked out, and looked for the right size. "Here they are," she said, pulling out a box. "Try these on,"

Cas tried on the boots. "Yes, these are good," he said.

"Are you sure? You don't want to try on anything else?" Charlie asked him, but Cas simply smiled and shook his head. "Alright, let's go then,"

Cas put the boots back in the box and carried it as he followed Charlie, leading the way to the register. Dean paid for Cas's boots, and Charlie was going to buy the rest, when Holly insisted on helping pay with the money in her wallet.

When they all got back to the bunker, Cas put on his new clothes to show Sam and Kevin what he got. "Dean said this shirt brings out my eyes," he said proudly, and puffed his chest a little.

"It does, Cas. It looks good on you," Sam told him, and Kevin agreed. Then they both hid their smirks as their glances shifted over to Dean, who looked away awkwardly.

Holly walked up to Cas with the watch in one hand, and the loose white pin in the other. "Do you have a sense of well-being now, Cas?" she asked with a smile on her face.

Cas nodded to confirm, and took the timepiece from her hand. Everyone was interested and gathered around. They all watched as Cas fumbled around with the turquoise pin until it popped out.

Dean threw an arm around Cas's shoulders. "Welcome home, Cas," he smiled at him.


End file.
